The US $1,000,000 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a global

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

award recognizing individuals for humanitarian work. It is awarded on behalf of the survivors of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. The Aurora Prize ceremonies have taken place since April 24, 2016.

History

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative was founded by

Noubar Afeyan Noubar Afeyan (Western ; born in 1962) is an American-Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding the biotechnology company Moderna, through his venture capital firm, Flagship Pioneering, and for co-foun ...

, Vartan Gregorian (1934-2021), and Ruben Vardanyan. In 2024, Dr. Eric Esrailian joined the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative as its Co-Founder to further Aurora’s efforts to shine a spotlight on the work of local humanitarians, amplifying their impact on the global stage. The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is one of the projects of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. It was officially announced at 100 LIVES launch event in New York on March 10, 2015. The creation of the Aurora Prize was inspired by many stories of the rescue of

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

during the Armenian genocide. The prize is named after Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide and the author of the book '' Ravished Armenia''. The Aurora Humanitarian Index is an international opinion poll that measures attitudes about humanitarian issues and the impact of humanitarian intervention. The inaugural 2016 Aurora Dialogues were held on April 23, 2016, in

Matenadaran The Matenadaran (), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenian manuscripts. It was establ ...

, Yerevan. Participants included Hina Jilani, Shirin Ebadi and Gareth Evans. 2017 Aurora Dialogues took place on May 27–28 in Armenia and on December 4–5 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2018, Aurora Dialogues were held in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

(in March and September),

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

and

. 2019 Aurora Dialogues took place in Armenia on October 17–21, 2019, during the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

Aurora Forum. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Aurora Dialogues were online in 2020. Some of the Aurora Dialogues events were online in 2021. The 2021 Aurora Dialogues event titled “Health Security: Humanitarian Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic” was held at the Ca' Zenobio degli Armeni in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Aurora Prize

Nominations are solicited from humanitarian organizations and the public. The members of the Expert Panel assess all eligible nominations according to the Aurora Prize selection criteria to narrow the overall list to 20-25 nominees for the Selection Committee's attention. This panel is composed of humanitarian professionals and leaders of humanitarian organizations. The selection of finalists and the Aurora Prize laureate is made by the independent Aurora Prize Selection Committee.

2016 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee Inaugural Selection Committee of the prize included the late

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

laureate

Elie Wiesel Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates#1980, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel bibliogra ...

, as well as

Óscar Arias Óscar Arias Sánchez (; born 13 September 1940 in Heredia, Costa Rica) is a Costa Rican activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He was President of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010. Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ...

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

and

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's non-violent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ...

, former president of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

, human rights activist Hina Jilani, former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n foreign minister and president emeritus of the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

Gareth Evans, president of the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

Vartan Gregorian and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning actor and humanitarian

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

. Finalists * Dr. Tom Catena * Marguerite Barankitse * Syeda Ghulam Fatima * Father Bernard Kinvi Ceremony The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity inaugural ceremony was held on April 24, 2016, in Yerevan at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. The ceremony was hosted by an Armenian opera diva Hasmik Papian and American journalist and novelist

David Ignatius David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including ''Body of Lies (novel), Body of Lies'', which direct ...

. The ceremony was opened by an animated film directed by Eric Nazarian featuring Serj Tankian's"Aurora's Dream" as the soundtrack. Each of the finalists was introduced with a documentary mini-film directed by

Andrei Loshak Andrei Borisovich Loshak (Russia: Андрей Борисович Лошак; born November 20, 1972, Moscow, RSFSR) is a Russian journalist and reporter. Biography Loshak was born on November 20, 1972, in Moscow into the family of artists Bor ...

. The live music during the ceremony was performed by State Youth Orchestra of Armenia conducted by Sergey Smbatyan. The fanfares of the ceremony was composed by Stepan Shakaryan. The statuette, created by Manvel Matevosyan was presented with an excerpt from ''Two Suns'', a ballet by the Ballet2021 Foundation dance troupe (choreographer Rudolf Kharatyan), accompanied by Avet Terteryan's and Arno Babajanyan's music. The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia performed an excerpt from Aram Khachaturyan's Symphony No. 2 (Bell Symphony). The co-hostess, soprano Hasmik Papian performed Barsegh Kanachyan's "Lullaby". The ceremony was concluded with the song " Pour toi, Arménie" (For you, Armenia) performed by Gevorg Hakobyan and the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia. Laureate The inaugural Aurora Prize was awarded to Marguerite Barankitse from Burundi. Barankitse chose Fondation Jean-Francois Peterbroeck, Foundation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, Bridderlech Deelen to receive $1 million awards as part of the prize package. The statuette of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was created by Manvel Matevosyan and is called ''Towards Eternity''.

2017 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2017 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (co-chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson and

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Re ...

. Finalists The nominations for 2017 Aurora Prize were opened on June 1 and the finalists were: * Ms. Fartuun Adan and Ms. Ilwad Elman * Ms.

Jamila Afghani Jamila Afghani (; born 1976 in Kabul) is a feminist and an activist for women's rights and education in Afghanistan. She is the founder and executive director of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). She is also an ex ...

* Dr. Tom Catena * Mr. Muhammad Darwish * Dr. Denis MukwegeAurora Prize.
2017 finalists. Laureate The 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Tom Catena.

2018 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2018 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (co-chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson,

, Lord Ara Darzi,

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in t ...

and

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an Irish-American journalist, diplomat, and government official who served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2021 to 2025. She was the 28th Unite ...

. Finalists * Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung (1941-2021) * Fr. Héctor Tomás González Castillo * Mrs. Sunitha Krishnan Laureate The 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung.

2019 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2019 Aurora Prize are Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi,

, Hina Jilani, Gareth Evans, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power, John Prendergast,

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...

, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair, 1920–2023) and George Clooney (honorary co-chair). Finalists * Mr. Mirza Dinnayi * Mr. Zannah Mustapha * Ms. Huda Al-Sarari Laureate The 2019 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Mirza Dinnayi.

2020 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Shirin Ebadi,

, Hina Jilani, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power,

Paul Polman Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman, (born 11 July 1956) is a Dutch people, Dutch businessman and author. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British/Dutch consumer goods company Unilever. Polman is also the co-author (with Andrew ...

, John Prendergast, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair, 1920–2023) and

(honorary co-chair). Finalists * Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman * Angélique Namaika * Sophie Beau and Klaus Vogel * Sakena Yacoobi Laureate The 2020 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman.

2021 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Shirin Ebadi,

, Hina Jilani, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Dele Olojede, John Prendergast, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair, 1920–2023) and

(honorary co-chair). Finalists * Grégoire Ahongbonon * Ruby Alba Castaño *

Paul Farmer Paul Edward Farmer (October 26, 1959 – February 21, 2022) was an American medical anthropology, medical anthropologist and physician. Farmer held an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he was a Harvard University Professor, University ...

Julienne Lusenge Julienne Lusenge is a human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo recognized for advocating for survivors of wartime sexual violence. She is co-founder and President of Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (S ...

* Ashwaq Moharram Laureate The sixth annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Julienne Lusenge, a human rights defender, co-founder of Women's Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and Fund for Congolese Women (FFC), who has been helping the victims of wartime sexual violence for years.

2022 Aurora Prize

Finalists *

* Hadi Jumaan *

Mahienour El-Massry Mahienour El-Masry (Egyptian Arabic: ماهينور المصري, born 7 January 1986 in Alexandria ) is an Egyptian human rights lawyer and political activist from Alexandria, who has been engaged on the activist scene in the coastal city since ...

Laureate The seventh Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to

, an educator, human rights defender, and founder of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). Jamila has dedicated over 25 years of her life to giving the women of Afghanistan access to education.

2024 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The 2024 Aurora Prize Selection Committee includes Vice Chair of Clinton Foundation and Vice Chair of Clinton Health Access Initiative

Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator. Clinton was born in Little Rock, Ar ...

, Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee; former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; President of Carnegie Corporation of New York Dame Louise Richardson; former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo; journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Dele Olojede, former CEO of Unilever and Co-founder and Co-Chair of IMAGINE Paul Polman, founder and CEO of Chobani and founder of the Tent Partnership for Refugees Hamdi Ulukaya, and human rights activist and Co-founder of The Sentry John Prendergast. The Committee is chaired by the Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London Lord Ara Darzi. Finalists * Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja * Denis Mukwege *

Nasrin Sotoudeh Nasrin Sotoudeh (Persian: نسرین ستوده) is an Iranian human rights lawyer known for her defense of activists, opposition politicians, and individuals facing human rights violations. She has represented Iranian opposition activists and ...

Laureate The eighth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecological surgeon and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Dr. Mukwege is the president of Panzi Hospital and Foundation in the DRC, which he founded in 1999 to address the systemic issue of maternal healthcare and maternal mortality. Amidst ongoing conflict and critical healthcare needs stemming from war, the hospital has become one of the world’s preeminent treatment centers for survivors of sexual violence in conflict.

References

External links

{{Official website, https://auroraprize.com/en
IDeA (Initiatives for Development of Armenia) charitable foundation#AraratChallengeMaison Shalom , Burundi
Humanitarian aid organizations Armenian awards International humanitarian and service awards Awards established in 2015